Planning: Eastenders' Sharon's Return

This TV trailer was broadcast across BBC channels promoting the soap opera Eastenders and the upcoming storyline of the return of one of Eastender's more fanous characters - Sharon.

In the opening scene, a close up shot of the famous Queen Victoria pub can be seen via an establishing camera shot. A zoom then focuses on the Queen Victoria sign of the pub as the camera catches it in a close up shot. In the background, the dark grey clouds reflect that something negative is going to happen and is an example of pathetic fallacy being used. This also relates to the Rolling Stones song 'Gimme Shelter' being used as an example of non diegetic sound in the background, immediately gripping the audience with suspense as it is evident that something drastic is going to happen.

By using the Queen Victoria

In the second shot a medium close up is used to capture Billy Mitchell struggling to get underneath an underpass as a way of shelter. The posters on the wall are barely there due to either being vandalised and ripped off the wall, or simply just worn away. This part of mise en scene adds to the dramatic mood of the advert which it is trying to promote.

The second shot quickly moves onto the third shot with a Range Rover 4x4 speeds around the corner before abruptly stopping. These type of cars are popular with people who are wealthy due to their expensive price tag. Because the audience of the trailer are unable to see who is driving the Range Rover, it adds to the mystery of the person driving (though Phil Mitchell is later found out to be the driver).

The transitition to the next shot is an establishing shot of the famous 'Walford Market' which is famous from the soap opera. The establishing shot shows that disaster has already struck and caused chaos as people frantically run about, looking as though they are trying to find shelter.

Another famous landmark of the programme; Ian Beale's chip shop - is also featured in the promotional trailer as Ian's daughter Lucy (an employee at the chip shop) struggles to close the door, once again showing chaos which is likely to add to the audience's curiousity as to what is happening/going to happen.

An establishing shot then shows then shows a hurricaine above Walford Square (Another famous landmark of the programme). The hurricaine is the most dominant part of the shot, therefore the focus is placed on the hurricane making it even more obvious to the audience that something is going to happen.

The ending of the advert shows Sharon floating down from the sky in a wedding dress which causes the audience to think about what is going on etc.

The use of costumes as part of mise-en-scene also portray the different personalities and styles of the characters within the programme. For example, Kat Slater is dressed in quite revealing clothes, which shows her flamboyant sense of personality etc.